W.E.B. Du Bois

'''William Edward Burghardt "W.E.B." Du Bois''' (23 February 1868-27 August 1963) was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, author, and writer. Du Bois, a member of Communist Party USA and a professor, was one of the founders of the NAACP.

Biography
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, United States on 23 February 1868 to a family of free African-Americans, and he grew up in a tolerant and integrated community. After graduating from the University of Berlin and Harvard University, Du Bois became a history, sociology, and economics professor at Atlanta University, and he co-founded the NAACP in 1909. Du Bois opposed Booker T. Washington's compromise with the southern whites in which southern blacks would work and submit to white rule in exchange for the whites allowing for them to receive basic educational and economic opportunities. He was a prolific author, writing several essays against the injustice of segregation and opposing the view that African-Americans caused the failure of Reconstruction. He protested against lynching, the Jim Crow laws, and educational and employment discrimination, and he became a member of Communist Party USA due to his belief that capitalism caused racism. Du Bois later moved to Ghana, and he died in Accra in 1963 at the age of 95. A year after his death, the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.